Lee Peace

A domestic abuse victim who suffered 'emotional bullying and harassment' has thanked police for their help.

The unnamed victim penned a heartfelt open letter to praise South Yorkshire Police for their help and pledged their support for the force's 'Who's pulling your strings' campaign. The scheme aims to raise awareness of the different types of domestic abuse and inform victims of where they can get help.

The victim's letter reads in part: "I have experienced emotional bullying and harassment. Text messages and scowls seemed trivial in comparison to some things, and out of context may even seem reasonable. However it was bullying, leaving me feeling alone, at a loss what to do, anxious and fearful.

"Following the latest incident and telling a friend, I contacted 101, again with little confidence that the police would be able to do anything about what I thought would be treated as a trivial matter – bullying and coercion.

"However, I was pleasantly surprised when the call handler reassured me that the matter was not trivial and that coercion was a serious matter. For the first time I felt confident that what I was dealing with wasn’t trivial, it is threatening, it is bullying and it shouldn’t be ignored.

"I was then advised that I would be contacted and visited the following day by a police officer. When the officer visited she reiterated that the matter was serious and that the perpetrator would be warned informally, and that it would be explained that should it continue that an official warning would be issued after which the perpetrator could be arrested.

"I found on the internet that South Yorkshire Police are currently running the ‘Who’s pulling your strings’ campaign.

"I simply wished to contact you to say this is a brilliant campaign. I now feel able to deal with more confidence, I will not worry that there is nothing that can be done and hopefully have the confidence to no longer back down to this bully.

"It has given me further confidence that coercion is harassment and I am very pleased with how the whole matter was dealt with."